The Scent Of Virtue is By Far The Best

The Scent Of Virtue is By Far The Best
By: Ven. Piya Jundadal

“Appamatto ayani gandho –
Ya yam tagara candant
Yo ca silavatani gandho –
Vati devesu uttamo”

“The scents of tagara and sandalwood are very faint; but the scent (reputation) of the virtuous is the strongest; is spreads even to the abodes of the devas.”
The above is a quote from the Dhammapada (The Words of Truth uttered by the Buddha), translated from Pali by the Ven. K. Sri Dhammanan.

At the beginning of this year I took a trip back to Thailand in order to attend the funeral ceremony of one of my respected elder monk. It also gave me a chance to visit with my family members. After the funeral I went to a monastery in Bangkok located on the banks of the Chaopraya River, in order to look for a monk friend. After leaving the taxi, I walked right into the monastery full of small residences for the monks and several concrete buildings. A monk- along with a lay attendant took me to my friend’s residence. It seemed like a different world once I entered his residence compound. A short while ago we were standing in the – capital city. A few more steps and we were surrounded by a secluded and peaceful garden.
My friend, – the principal of the Pali language division, came to welcome me warmly with tea. We both remembered that we met several years ago in the city of Dhammasala, India. We sat and talked under the trees. The surrounding area was full of several types of carefully selected flowers; the scent from them filled the whole area, inducing delight and happiness.
As we talked and drank tea and observed that the animals around his residence seemed to have enjoyment like us. There were beautiful butterflies, busy squirrels, various kinds of birds and many other animals. I began to reflect on our lives on this earth paralleled to the interest and visitation of the various animals to this garden that has been made more beautiful and interesting.
According to him, it takes more power, money, lots of planning and time to make the garden nice and beautiful. In the late afternoon it is common to see different group of novices come out to read and study the teachings of the Buddha in the garden. If life is like a garden, each human life is up to the individual to cultivate the way it should be. It’s up to each one to select the plants or flowers and not to allow weeds to grow instead. If we know how to make our lives beautiful by planting only good things, being mindful, providing enough water, filling the soil when needed and getting rid of any unwanted weeds, our lives will grow only the goodness. The resulting beautiful lives will only be beneficial to the world. There is a saying:

Your mind is like a garden
Your thoughts are the seeds,
You can grow flowers or
You can grow weeds.

As caretakers of the gardens of life, how are we going to make them beautiful and peaceful? This is a challenging question for the world. It is fortunate that the Buddha has laid out the path of practice of how to lead and improve our lives. We can improve this garden of life in three ways:
First, we decorate this garden of life with trees which represent moral disciplines (Sila). The trees will give out oxygen, provide shade, and be a nice place to visit. Moral discipline makes us wholesome and prevents us from abusing the lives, belongings and families of others. It prevents us from abusing the trust of other people and from destroying our own health. Our lives will be more peaceful. Any body coming into our garden of life will be safe. We can achieve this by practicing the five precepts to train our physical action and verbal action.
Second, we decorate this garden of life with flowers which represent concentration (Samadhi). They are refreshing and beautiful to look at. The same with our lives when decorated with concentration, which keeps our minds calm, stable, and energetically productive. We should make our minds calm by meditation at least 5-10 minutes a day.
Third, we provide the garden with water, which represents wisdom (Panya). A pond or a fountain helps to reduce the heat and provide relief. Wisdom, which is the capacity to see things the way they are, similarly makes our lives more comfortable. This occurs when we act with knowledge and understanding without obsession or attachment.